Elisabeth Moss Breaks Down ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Series Finale

This article contains spoilers.

Elisabeth Moss was all smiles in an in-person interview before the sixth and final season of the award-winning Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale, when she promised fans a “wild ride.”

She kept her word. Just when you think June Osborne has been pushed beyond the point of no return, she’s tested in ways even she couldn’t have seen coming. The ten-episode season certainly delivered and stayed true to Margaret Atwood’s bestselling novel and Bruce Miller’s television adaptation.

Throughout the seasons, Miller has ardently stayed true to Atwood’s book, saying before this season premiered that the show’s ending would not be what he felt the audience wanted, but what he thought June would get. “I tried to be realistic about how far June could get if she pushed. We’ve followed June for so long, and we want to see what the Handmaid can achieve before her tale ends.”

Executive producer Warren Littlefield told me there were many discussions on how to end the beloved series. “We wanted to reward the audience who followed this treacherous journey and give them a sense of satisfaction. This show was always about hope and determination.”

Their methods worked. Since its 2017 premiere, the show has been nominated for over 75 awards and won 15 Primetime Emmys, including awards for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress for Moss, and supporting acting categories.

In the finale, the viewer is privy to the beginning of the end of the war as Handmaids and Marthas are finally free in some regions, June reunites with Emily, knows Moira made it out, parts ways amicably with Luke, makes peace with Serena, and sees her beloved friend Janine set free with her daughter, Charlotte.

The Story Continues…

There is, however, a very important loose end: June and Luke are not reunited with their daughter, Hannah. This sets up the perfect lead into the sequel, The Testaments, which will be based on Atwood’s follow-up novel of the same name.

“If there wasn’t going to be a sequel, we may have ended it differently,” admitted Moss, referring to Hannah remaining in Gilead. “The Testaments is centered around Hannah and her story.”

Moss confirmed she will executive produce the sequel, but when we spoke, she said scheduling conflicts prevented her from acting or directing. She did, however, hint that the future isn’t written in stone. “Maybe one day…Hopefully, if we get a second season. June is not dead, and she has a lot of fight left in her, and there’s a war to be won. We know that June will never give up on Hannah. She has work to do. She won a battle, but she hasn’t won the war. And she has not gotten her daughter out. Her battle will never be over until that happens.”

About That Love Triangle

Moss hinted in that initial interview that the love triangle between June, Nick, and Luke would be “smashed” this season. Episode nine, entitled “Execution,” written by Eric Tuchman, ends with one of the series’ most heartbreaking scenes.

When Moss first read the script, she asked to direct the episode. In a follow-up interview, she described killing off two of her favorite characters, Max Mighella’s Nick and Bradley Whitford’s Commander Joseph Lawrence, in a fiery plane crash, as something that had to happen for a few reasons.

“I know fans would love the version where they all live in Hawaii together and have this blended family, but if you saw that episode, you would tear us apart. We’d never live it down. Fans would kill us. It had to happen. I love that Nick and Lawrence get on that plane for different reasons. They’re both examples of June’s greatest and worst quality, which is her belief that somebody (Lawrence) will do the right thing. She believes Nick will do the right thing, but he doesn’t. There’s such beautiful poetry in that writing.”

Though her relationship with Nick has a definitive ending, June and Luke left things open-ended. “I didn’t want it to be about which man she ended up with. I wanted it to be about her journey as a woman, a mom, a friend, and a Handmaid. I didn’t want her to have to choose which one. I didn’t want it to be about that. I think there’s a possibility of June and Luke having a future together, but they’d have to start over.”

June Versus Serena

When asked to describe the relationship between June and Serena, Moss explained how similar the two women are. “They’re an incredible example of two women with the same goal: to have a safe future for their children. They somehow wound up on opposite sides of the aisle and the argument. I don’t excuse Serena’s behavior and the terrible things she’s done. They’re inexcusable. I don’t think it’s possible to forgive her, but June’s generosity and kindness lie in the fact that she sees that Serena needs that forgiveness more than it costs June to give it away.”

Moss adds that June also forgives Serena for the sake of her son, Noah. “I feel they’re standing right next to each other in the same boat. I think that they’re the greatest friendship on the show. They’re also the great hero and villain of the show, but that’s not how I view them. I view them as the great love story of the show.”

Moss describes their relationship as one of the most interesting in the show. “They do love each other. If love is truly understanding somebody and loving them despite every invitation not to, and understanding who somebody is, that’s June and Serena. Nobody knows Serena better than June does. She was able to love her despite everything that she’s done. I think that’s incredibly beautiful.”

How Motherhood Impacted Her Performance

When asked how becoming a mom in real life impacted her performance, Moss said that though she felt things on a different level, she always understood June. “It’s been an interesting journey. I’ve always felt like I understood what June feels and that she needs to survive for her daughters. I’ve always felt like that was what the show was about from the first episode to the last. I’ve never felt like I didn’t understand her,” she explained, adding, “I had a more palpable emotional feeling I tapped into. Being a mom and having a child undoubtedly added a more visceral feeling.”

She was quick to clarify that many actors who aren’t parents do a wonderful job portraying mothers and fathers. “I did it for years. I made a career out of it,” she said. “It’s about relating to feelings of love, attachment, and wanting to protect someone you love. We can all identify with that. I don’t think you must be a mom to understand what that feels like.”

Moss described the last six weeks of filming as some of the most intense, physically challenging, and rewarding days of her career. “To be at the helm of this has truly changed my life professionally and personally. I became a producer, a director, and then I became a mom. Bringing this show to a close was a level of meta that is difficult to describe.”

The Very Last Scene

Moss was dedicated to getting the finale right, and she followed her gut instincts when it came to that final scene, which involved 15 varying takes. June returns to the Waterfords’ burnt-out shell of a house, where she spent years imprisoned as a Handmaid, and goes to her old room.

“I’m a director who likes options. I had a few versions of that ending. Originally, the final scene was written with June walking up to the steps of the house and sitting outside. I asked Bruce if she could go inside and if the house’s interior could be rebuilt. I wanted her to go up to her room because that’s where The Handmaid’s Tale is written. That’s where the opening lines of the book and show are said.”

June looks directly into the camera defiantly and says, “A chair, a table, a lamp…My name is Offred.” The viewer understands she is going to tell her story. Moss rewatched the 2017 pilot episode, in which June says these same words, to ensure she got it exactly right.

“As we set up that final shot, I realized I had to memorize the speech in the cadence I said it in the first episode. I logged onto my Hulu account, watched that scene over and over, and memorized how I said it. There’s an eeriness because subconsciously, it felt like I was listening to the original recording.”

Moss did several versions. “In one take, it’s a voiceover. There’s one where I don’t say it at all. There’s one where I say it out loud, which is what you see in the show. There were only two takes of the one you see.”

Concluding a series of this caliber is no easy feat. As Moss acknowledged, it’s impossible to please millions of fans, but she’s happy with how it turned out. “I cannot imagine a more perfect ending. This is what I think makes the most sense. It feels right.”